Chasing Too Big a Fish

Here's your nightly math! Just 5 quick minutes of number fun for kids and parents at home. Read a cool fun fact, followed by math riddles at different levels so everyone can jump in. Your kids will love you for it.

Chasing Too Big a Fish

When animals hunt for food, sometimes they bite off more than they can chew. While fishing off the coast of Vancouver, Canada, Don Dunbar saw a very tired, sick eagle swimming through the water. He rescued it by scooping it up with his net, as you can see in this video, and let it rest in his boat. Don and the animal rescue folks on shore think that the bird tried to grab a really huge salmon, but was pulled down into the water with it. Since the eagle was also sick, he was too weak to fly once his wings were wet and heavy. What’s amazing is that this big bird isn’t even fully grown: eagles can have wingspans of 6 or 7 feet, and some types can weigh up to 15 pounds. They’re also really strong – one time an eagle was spotted carrying a 15-pound baby deer! This eagle is now resting and getting better at a center for birds of prey, where they feed him bits of smaller birds …he’s just as happy to have someone else find his meals for him.

Wee ones: If the eagle weighed 3 pounds and went after a 5-pound fish, who weighed more?

Little kids: If the eagle weighed 3 pounds and chased a 5-pound fish, how much did they weigh together? Bonus: At rescue, the poor eagle weighed only 1/2 of what he’s supposed to weigh at this age. If he should have weighed 8 pounds, then what was his weight?

Big kids: If the eagle was picked up on October 8 and stays for 3 weeks, when will they let him fly away? Bonus: If you lay down next to an eagle with a 6-foot wingspan, how many inches wider than you would its wings stretch? (Or if you’re taller than 6 feet, how many inches bigger would you be? Reminder: One foot has 12 inches.)

Answers:Wee ones: The fish!

Little kids: 8 pounds. Bonus: 4 pounds.

Big kids: On October 29. Bonus: Different for everyone…subtract your height in inches from 72, or subtract 72 from your height.

About the Author

Laura Bilodeau Overdeck is founder and president of Bedtime Math Foundation. Her goal is to make math as playful for kids as it was for her when she was a child. Her mom had Laura baking while still in diapers, and her dad had her using power tools at a very unsafe age, measuring lengths, widths and angles in the process. Armed with this early love of numbers, Laura went on to get a BA in astrophysics from Princeton University, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business; she continues to star-gaze today. Laura’s other interests include her three lively children, chocolate, extreme vehicles, and Lego Mindstorms.